Organic selenium supplementation is cost-effective for increasing the number of seminal doses produced by sexually mature boars

<div><p>ABSTRACT The present experiment was carried out to evaluate the economic viability of supplementing boar diets with organic selenium aiming to increase the number of seminal doses of sexually mature boars. Twelve boars were divided into three groups: control group received 0.3 mg kg−1 Se from sodium selenite (n = 4), inorganic group received 0.5 mg kg−1 Se from sodium selenite (n = 4), and organic group received 0.5 mg kg−1 Se from Sel-PlexTM (Alltech, Inc., n = 4). The experiment was conducted within 10 weeks and analysis was performed fortnightly. No interaction was observed between treatments and weeks for any of the variables analyzed. Boars fed diet supplemented with 0.5 mg kg−1 of organic selenium exhibited a 23% increase in the seminal doses, which resulted in a 37% reduction in the cost of diet per dose produced by boars in this group compared with boars in the inorganic group. It should be pointed out that the total revenue produced by the organic group was 26% higher than the inorganic group. The feeding of organic Se increases the number of seminal doses and reduces the average cost of the diet, demonstrating to be cost-effective.</p></div

Linear regression and correlation.

<p>(A) Linear regression between treatments of the sperm population with plasma and acrosomal membrane integrity and high mitochondrial membrane potential (IPIAH). (B) Correlation between sperm IPIAH and total motility.</p

Novel Flow Cytometry Analyses of Boar Sperm Viability: Can the Addition of Whole Sperm-Rich Fraction Seminal Plasma to Frozen-Thawed Boar Sperm Affect It? - Fig 6

<p><b>Effects of treatment (A) and time (B) on plasma and acrosomal membrane integrity and mitochondrial membrane potential.</b> CT—control; CS—centrifuged and suspended in autologous seminal plasma (SP); CW—centrifuged and withdrawn SP; CWSP—CW containing autologous seminal plasma. IPIAH—plasma and acrosome membrane integrity and high Δψm. Different letters represent a significant difference (p < 0.05).</p

Mean ± standard error of time vs. treatment interaction for straightness.

<p>Mean ± standard error of time vs. treatment interaction for straightness.</p

Differentiation of stain type regards sperm compartment evaluated.

<p>Differentiation of stain type regards sperm compartment evaluated.</p

Effect of treatments on computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA).

<p>(A) Total and progressive motility; (B) VCL—curvilinear velocity, VSL—straight-line velocity, VAP—average path velocity; C) LIN—linearity, STR—straightness; (D) ALH—amplitude of lateral head displacement, BCF—beat cross frequency and HIPER—hypermotility. CT—control; CS—centrifuged and suspended in autologous seminal plasma (SP); CW—centrifuged and withdrawn SP; CWSP—CW containing autologous seminal plasma. Different letters represent a significant difference (p < 0.05). CT—control; CS—centrifuged and suspended in autologous seminal plasma (SP); CW—centrifuged and withdrawn SP; CWSP—CW containing autologous seminal plasma. Different letters in the same row represent a difference (p < 0.05) between treatments at the same time.</p

Mean ± standard error of different cell category obtained from different stain type, in bases of percentage (%) of raw diluted semen.

<p>Mean ± standard error of different cell category obtained from different stain type, in bases of percentage (%) of raw diluted semen.</p

Tyrosine phosphorylation on the surface of spermatozoa.

<p>CT—control; CS—centrifuged and suspended in autologous seminal plasma (SP); CW—centrifuged and withdrawn SP; CWSP—CW containing autologous seminal plasma. Different letters represent a significant difference (p < 0.05).</p

Analysis of flow cytometry fourfold stain for simultaneous assessment of plasma, acrosomal and mitochondrial membranes of boar sperm: an epifluorescence view.

<p>(A) Side scatter (SSC) x forward scatter (FSC) dot plot showing the “Sperm + cell debris” gate. (B) Hoechst 33342 histogram originating from the “Sperm + cell debris” gate to exclude non-cellular particles by a DNA probe, Hoechst 33342. (C) Propidium iodide histogram based on Hoechst 33342 for evaluating sperm cell membrane integrity. IM gate showing spermatozoa with intact plasma membranes and the DM gate showing damaged sperm plasma membranes. (D) Dot plot from the IM gate for analyzing mitochondrial membrane potential (axis y; JC-1 orange) and acrosome integrity (axis x; PSA-FITC), as represented by each quadrant of expected sperm cells. (E) Dot plot from the DM gate for analyzing mitochondrial membrane potential (axis y; JC-1 orange) and acrosome integrity (axis x; PSA-FITC), as represented by each quadrant of expected sperm cells.</p